Actually, you hated sleeping in beds other than your own. Sometimes it was the pillows that felt wrong, then the blanket was too heavy and the surface too hard or too soft.

You had insisted on being allowed to leave to sleep in your own bed and return to the experiments the next morning.

But Silco left nothing to chance and had ordered that you move into one of the rooms in the last drop. Generous as he was, he had even had everything prepared, with food, clean sheets and a private bathroom.

That would prevent you from having to get up in the middle of the night and walk up a flight of stairs, only to use the toilets that the drunken guests threw up all over.

Now you lay there, in a dark room with an oil lamp whose dim flame barely gave light, staring at the ceiling.

The dull music from the upper floors seeped through to you, preventing peace from entering your mind.

Exhausted, your eyes wandered over the long wooden beams.

There were drawings, drawings everywhere you looked.

They decorated the room with a bright pink that fought for its place against a cool blue.

Most of the illustrations were just jumbled shapes, not real pictures. Only directly above the bed could you make out something that sent a chill down your spine.

It was a monkey, or at least the head. But for some reason the picture was distorted, as if the painter had had difficulty concentrating on the one subject without being distracted by pain and trembling.

Those giant eyes seemed to be shaking, it felt like you were able to hear its strange screams. The feeling that it would jump from the ceiling made your body grow goosebumps.

Gritting your teeth, you frowned and pushed the pillow over your eyes to turn onto the side.

The room felt unfamiliar, threatening. The emptiness made you nervous, there was no furniture, no cupboards or tables, just this one bed that was actually a broken sofa.

The thought of a bodyguard standing outside your door didn't make it any easier to feel comfortable.

For a moment you forced your body to stay calm. But the nervous twitching in your feet just wouldn't stop.

With an annoyed groan you rolled your eyes, threw the pillow aside and jumped up.

"Hey!", you knocked hard on the door so the guy on the other side could hear you through the noise.

It took a moment, then there was the sound of a key turning in the lock and the door opened a crack. Light cut through the darkness.

You had to squint your eyes.

"What is it?", the bodyguard looked at you grimly.

The expression in his eyes made it clear that he would rather be anywhere else.

You briefly wondered if it would be wise to be snappy with him.

"I need to go back upstairs.", you said, and put on a bathrobe so that no one could comment on the strange pajamas Silco had provided.

He shook his head.

"The boss doesn't want to be disturbed.", he growled, and went to close the door.

But you let your foot slide between the door and the frame in a flash, blocking his way. With a serious expression you looked at him, a dark shadow on your face.

"I must look at the experiment again.", you insisted.

He hesitated.

"An order is an order."

"And I will not object to that. But I have to take another look."

"He won't be pleased."

"Is he ever? That's between me and Silco. Let me go upstairs and I'll take the rebuke."

This time he stepped aside, albeit reluctantly.

"You know the way.", he said, and walked you up to the stairs. "I won't take the risk."

Shrugging, you accepted it and climbed the stairs to knock on the door to Silco's office.

Silence answered.

You knocked again, louder this time. Maybe he had missed it because of the music.

But again, no one answered.

"Huh...", your hand was already on the door handle, but you hesitated.

Taking a look into Silco's office could become an advantage for you, depending on what you could find before someone caught you. However, you also knew that in this case it would be a death sentence.

Silco needed you, but even his tolerance knew limits. He would never allow espionage. And you would only be safe when someone from the uppercity took care of him.

Down here in Zaun there was no one who would dare to mess with him. He had too much power for that, too many things he could use to his advantage.

Exhaling heavily, you pushed down the door handle. And indeed, the door opened. Cautiously you took a look through the crack, into the dark room.

Surprised, you realized that no one was there.

Your eyes jumped over to the table with the shimmer. It wouldn't hurt to actually look at the work again. You couldn't sleep in this hellhole anyway.

"Alright...", you mumbled and closed the door behind you. "Let's see... I checked the consistency. Tried to part the cells... maybe a change of ingredients?"

Your eyes wandered over the research papers that Silco had provided. They were mainly about the prototype and the final product, only very little about the correct proportions.

In Zaun, the drug lords knew the recipes by heart. It gave them a boost of self confidence to know without having to rely on paper. Plus, it helped with staying privat.

If the enforcers got their hands on one of the factories the workers could simply deny that they knew anything and no written evidence would be found.

"Maybe... maybe start new?", frowning, you grabbed the shimmer version that everybody else was used to and placed a few drops under a microscope. "That's not it..."

The cells with healing effects were easily separated from the ones that caused aggression and addiction. They were smaller, lesser and had a different shade of colour while the rest shimmered in a disgusting violett and pink.

Only by looking at it it was possible to tell that the liquid was toxic in some sort of way.

Frustrated, you bit your lips but flinched in surprise the next moment.

Voices reached your ears.